LLMs for Fun and Profit

Frank DiTraglia

Wise words from Ada Lovelace

It is desirable to guard against the possibility of exaggerated ideas that might arise as to the powers of the Analytical Engine. In considering any new subject, there is frequently a tendency, first, to overrate what we find to be already interesting or remarkable; and, secondly, by a sort of natural reaction, to undervalue the true state of the case, when we do discover that our notions have surpassed those that were really tenable.

LLMs are the best RA you’ve ever had

  • Dramatically faster
  • Dramatically cheaper
  • 80th percentile (my opinion) in general aptitude
  • 99th percentile (my opinion) in coding

If you’re not using LLMs on a daily basis, you’re missing out.

Which LLMs to use?

I subscribe to all three “frontier” models:

  • I use Claude and ChatGPT daily; occasionally Gemini
  • Claude is my favorite, esp. for coding / language tasks
  • ChatGPT has more bells and whistles
    • Generate images
    • o1 for “deep thinking” (useful for math)
    • search the web
  • Gemini has never given me good results but I keep trying

Reverse-compile a LaTeX Document

  • This tutorial sheet is full of typos; but I don’t have the TeX!
  • Two options
    1. Copy-and-paste the text of the .pdf into an LLM or
    2. Upload the .pdf itself
  • Provide a prompt like this:

Here is text that I’ve copied and pasted from a .pdf document generated using LaTeX. Please give me the underlying TeX code needed to generate it.

Create .tex from Handwritten Notes

Make clipart for your slides

Get Help Writing Grants

  • Upload your notes on a project / grant ideas
  • Upload the grant requirements from the website
  • Ask for help fitting your content into the required boxes
    • E.g. “narrative CV” for UKRI
  • Re-write in your own words; then ask for writing feedback
  • Trust me: this actually works

An Improved Rubber Duckie

  • LLMs can’t (yet) fully explain an Econometrica paper to you
  • But they can help you explain it to yourself!
  • Upload the paper; ask for a summary
  • Then start a conversation with the LLM.
  • When it gets something wrong, try explaining why it’s wrong.
  • Continue the conversation

But wait: there’s more!

  • Get help making a TikZ figure
    • Start with sketch and ask for draft
    • Compile result, paste screenshot
    • Ask for changes; repeat
  • Practice giving an Oxford interview
    • Ask the LLM to role-play an applicant
  • Create new teaching examples
    • Upload past examples; ask for ideas
  • Write tweets to promote your research
    • Within character limit; “idiomatic”
  • Get help with email tone / boundaries
    • Draft email; ask for feedback
    • Great for difficult student emails
  • Check your algebra / help with math
    • Upload TeX or image
    • o1 is best; Claude is also good
  • Get legal advice (seriously)
    • Describe the legal issue at hand
    • ChatGPT can point to relevant statutes
    • Then go read the statutes yourself
  • Get feedback on teaching materials
    • Upload slides / notes / draft exams
    • Ask if anything is confusing
  • Learn a Language
    • Practice writing; ask for corrections
    • Practice conversation (ChatGPT)

LLMs as Complements to Other Tools

  • LLMs lower cost of learning other productivity tools

  • Great at teaching and debugging coding / tech tools

  • Ask for help; try things; paste in the error messages; repeat

  • Low-hanging fruit:

    1. Learn how to touch type and use a good editor!
    2. Version control with git / github
    3. The LaTeX exam class
    4. Quarto / Markdown

Is your workflow stuck in the 1990s?

  • paper_restud_final_v23_withedits_revised.tex
  • “Why have all the numbers in table 2 changed?”
  • “I can’t find the version we submitted to Econometrica!”
  • “I’m working in Dropbox now: stay out of the paper folder!”
  • “Oops: I gave the wrong exam to the MPhil students!”

Version Control: git / github

  • Keep past versions of your work without the clutter
  • Collaborate with others without the chaos
  • Track changes to your work over time
  • Share your code / results with the world
  • Let’s Git started!

The LaTeX Exam Class

I thought every one already used this; but apparently not…

Choose whether to show solutions

Single TeX file file for questions and solutions

Two different pdfs from the same TeX file

Quarto / Markdown

  • This document was made using Quarto
  • Weave together content & code into a finished document
  • Many output formats: slides, papers, websites, books, etc.
  • Even Microsoft Word / Powerpoint!
    • <crosses self, sprays holy water>
  • Simple syntax, easy to learn: based on Markdown

Thanks for listening!